Maisie Smith left screaming as Max George presents her with surprise gift

MAISIE Smith screamed as boyfriend Max George surprised her with a hilarious gift at the weekend.

When they're not working or at glam events, the smitten couple can be found cosying up inside their love nest.

And The Wanted singer Max gave fans a glimpse into the fun they get up to at home last night, as he presented Maisie with the unique present.

He spun around to reveal a cardboard cut out of Maisie in a glamorous dress.

Sitting on the sofa filming her man, the actress squealed and said "oh my God", as she digested the unusual surprise.

The gift came as Maisie told the Sun in an exclusive interview that she is in love with boyfriend Max.

The former EastEnders star, who won over millions of fans on Strictly Come Dancing in 2020, has proved she has true grit by completing the backbreaking Celebrity SAS programme.

While the “brutal” experience left her battered, bruised and ravaged by sunburn, she said she finished it feeling better about herself than she ever has before.

It was so life-changing that it even gave her the confidence to open up to Max, 34, about painful insecurities she has suffered in the past.

Maisie, 21, said: “To be honest, I’m still pinching myself that I managed to get through it. It’s been weird watching it back, because I forgot how brutal it was.

“It’s crazy. But I came out of the show feeling so strong and so confident. And being more confident now, I allowed myself to open up and speak to Max about the feelings I did have about myself and how I feel about myself now.

“So now he really knows me, which is really nice. He knows me entirely. There are no feelings that I’ve kept inside, which is a weight off my shoulders.

“It feels amazing to know that when someone loves you they know every bit about you — the good and the bad. That’s what love is really.”

And confirming her love for him, she continued: “Yeah, I do.”

She went on: “Max is very proud of me. When he saw the show he was like, ‘That’s absolutely brutal’. But he sees my strength, so he said, ‘I knew you could do it’.”

Maisie — who played EastEnders favourite Tiffany Butcher for 13 years until her departure last year — first met Max when they starred in Strictly two years ago.

After growing close on this year’s Strictly tour, in August they went public with their romance, going on holiday and sharing a series of loved-up photos on social media.

And Maisie said their relationship was transformed when she told Max about her past insecurities — which she has struggled with from childhood.

As she told how finally leaving those insecurities behind has made her happier than ever, it was hard to match the Maisie of now — polite, self-assured and infectious in her enthusiasm — to the shell of a girl she described when she looked back.

She said: “I was always very aware of the fact people looked up to me, that I had fans. I wanted to be someone to look up to but I lacked confidence because I put too much pressure on myself.

“I think a lot of time I kept things to myself. I had a tendency to suffer in silence, to keep things inside and not talk about them. I never wanted to be a burden.

“I was too scared to admit how I felt to people. I also had body insecurities. I spent a lot of time covering up my body, and I was going to the gym since I was 13 — but not for fitness.

“I didn’t like my appearance, which is quite sad, looking back. When I went to parties I would cover my entire body or I wouldn’t go because I felt too ugly.”